It isn’t very often that I write about a Fiat. This is because in this region no one seems to be willing to spend their hard earned salary on one. Maybe it is the reliability issues or bad resale value. But if you ever get a chance to sit in one, you’d find that they are not as fragile as they once were and the materials used for the interior is pretty good. The Fiat Punto Evo is one of them and it is good to hear that this car isn’t neglected by performance tuners like NOVITEC, who have unveiled their tuning upgrades for this good looking Italian hatchback.

Starting with the fabulous 1.4liter turbocharged Multiair engine (also used in the Alfa MiTo) NOVITEC have boosted it up by using their PowerJet2 auxilary control unit (costing 419Euros) to increase the horsepower from 135bhp to 160bhp. Torque also increases from 206Nm to 246Nm and this allows the Punto Evo to hit 100km/h from nought in 7.9seconds, down from 8.3seconds. Maximum speed is up by 4km/h to 209km/h. Not much, but if you bought the Abarth Punto Evo, that same (but already factory boosted) engine will make 184bhp from 163bhp.

Diesel Punto Evos are also enhanced as diesels (and small Fiats) are hot sellers in Europe. NOVITEC uses its Powerrail 5 module to tweak the ECU and enables the 1.6liter Multijet diesel to make 144bhp and a phenomenal 356Nm worth of torque.

Aside from ECU tuning, NOVITEC has stainless steel sports mufflers which are available in... 26 versions and start at 200Euros. 26 different mufflers is a whole lot for one type of car in my opinion. Some of these must be universal exhaust mufflers.

As for looks and handling, NOVITEC has headlamp covers and a whole bodykit. Front spoiler with additional winglets, side skirts, rear spoiler and rear bumper/diffuser setup (in 3 versions) for that boy racer look that most want to achieve.

NOVITEC provides its own N10 alloy wheels which are available in 17 and 18inches for the Punto Evo. The wheels come in two colors, silver and black. The 18inch wheels come in 8in widths and NOVITEC recommends 215/35 rubber bands to be used.

Those large wheel and tire combo require lowering. Some of you may be aware that if you just change to larger wheels you’d note that the ride height sometimes increases and a little hatchback may look like a crossover vehicle. NOVITEC offers either sports springs which lower the Punto Evo by about 35mm or a full height and damping rate adjustable coilover suspension setup that allows lowering adjustments from 35 to a ground hugging 75mm.

This Punto Evo is now a hotter, fire breathing little Italian hatchback thanks to a performance tuner.